Anglo American reiterates faith in 'future-enabling metals'

It would be cynical to suggest that you can tell when a mining group’s financial performance has come up short when it places particular emphasis on an improved safety record. Anglo American (AAL) saw “overall injury rates decreasing markedly in the first half”. That’s undoubtedly a highly creditable achievement. Unfortunately, cash profits followed suit, falling by 41 per cent to $5.1bn (£4.06bn). Operating cash flows also decreased from $7bn to $3.9bn year-on-year. And an accompanying fall-away in underlying earnings precipitated a 56 per cent cut in the interim dividend. The group’s return-on-capital-employed halved to 18 per cent from the HY 2022 rate.